“American Council on Science and Health” on The Daily Caller

Here’s a word of advice to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulators deciding this week whether or not to ban menthol cigarettes: Cool it. If the FDA sows this wind, I fear we will reap the whirlwind. (more)

As we begin a new year, the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) would first like to try and slay the demons and hobgoblins of the past year. We do this each New Year’s Eve by making a list of the top unfounded health scares of the outgoing year. These bouts of hysteria are prompted by many different things. But what they have in common is that there’s no scientific evidence to back up the alarms being sounded. (more)

Congress is debating overhauling the Toxic Substances Control Act, the law that guides how the federal government regulates chemicals in the environment. The Environmental Protection Agency plans to regulate five commonly used chemicals and says more will be added to the list regularly. Chemicals are under increasing scrutiny and the trend is toward more precautionary regulations. (more)

If you’ve looked at online, print or broadcast news in the past 48 hours, you’ve probably seen coverage of the President’s Cancer Panel report that hypes potential environmental causes of cancer. To not notice alarming headlines like, “Cancers from Environment ‘Grossly Underestimated,’” “Americans Bombarded with Cancer Causes,” and “‘Grievous Harm’ Posed by Unchecked Chemicals,” it would take a stock market crash, an attempted terrorist attack in Times Square, and a huge oil spill, all in the same week. (more)

In the 40 years since the first Earth Day, the “Green Movement” has migrated far beyond the prevention of polluted lakes and streams and emissions from coal-burning plants to take on scientifically-shakier targets: allegedly harmful substances in food and consumer products. The goals of Earth Day celebrants now include what they call “green chemistry”—a prohibition on industrial chemicals they deem “toxic” and the embrace of ones deemed unequivocally “safe” (an unachievable goal, since any chemical, natural or synthetic, is toxic at some dose). (more)

While there may be a few valid illness claims buried among the 10,000 or so cases in the big “9/11 lawsuit” now approaching trial, the overwhelming majority clearly relies on junk science. Sadly, there’s a whole industry set up to supply that junk—funded by lawyers eager to fuel such lawsuits, staffed by researchers eager to push bizarre theories, and promoted by ignorant reporters and politicians. (more)

Studies published in peer-reviewed journals become the basis for everything from the advice your doctor gives you to the very laws that govern us. A journal’s ability to tell good science from bad is critical. But some journals have used poor judgment, and even replaced judgment with a bias of their own. (more)